A good few years ago Priory Records recorded a set of ten CDs
which contained all 150 psalms. Each volume was allotted to
a different cathedral choir – ten choirs were involved in the
project – and the series is still available from Priory, either
as individual
volumes or as a complete
set. Now Priory intend to revisit the psalter and record
all the psalms again, using as much as possible, they say, chants
that are hitherto unrecorded. It would appear from this first
volume that the new series will follow a different scheme in
that the psalms will be set out in order, as prescribed in the
psalter, whereas in the previous series the psalms were mixed
up and divided according to broad themes. I think that, for
reference purposes, the new approach probably makes greater
sense, especially if one is to collect the whole series.

At its best there is something very satisfying about Anglican
chant – I speak as a non-Anglican. The form might seem very
restrictive but in fact a chant that complements the words of
the psalm which is being sung can, if properly pointed by the
choir, impart an extra dimension to the words. The listener’s
experience can be enhanced further if the accompanying organist
tastefully and imaginatively decorates the basic chords. The
timeless language and often vivid imagery of the words as rendered
in the King James Bible and a good, appropriate chant can form
a wonderful partnership.

First into the lists for Priory this time round is Exeter Cathedral
choir, directed by Andrew Millington, who has been in charge
of the cathedral’s music since 1999. He contributed to the previous
Priory series as well – Volume 6 – during his time as organist
of Guildford Cathedral (1983-1999). For this new recording Mr
Millington has chosen a diverse set of chants, including several
with Exeter connections. These last include three by Millington
himself and three by Reg Moore, one of Millington’s predecessors
at the cathedral – he was organist and choirmaster there in
the 1950s. The third Exeter composer is Michael Dawson, a former
chorister, who wrote his chant at the age of just eleven!

The psalms included in this programme are those prescribed for
Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer on the first three days of
the month and finishing with Psalm 19, which is the first of
three ordered for Morning Prayer on the fourth day. The fact
that these psalms are said or sung each day, on the same day,
month in month out imparts a rhythm and routine to the Anglican
liturgy, one that is derived from the monastic ritual. The chants
to which the psalms are sung are, in essence, a harmonised equivalent
of the plainsong to which psalms were and still are recited
in the monastic communities. The number of chants is legion:
a note in the booklet mentions the National Archive of Anglican
Chants which, apparently, comprises a collection of 14,800 different
chants. The trick for a choir master is to choose chants that
suit the mood of each psalm prescribed for the day. That task
is made more complicated because the mood can change within
a psalm – from penitence to exaltation, say – and furthermore
some psalms are sufficiently long that the use of one chant
throughout would induce tedium. Often, therefore, more than
one chant will be selected for use within the same psalm. There
are several such examples here and in Psalm 18, with its fifty-one
verses, no fewer than four separate chants are involved, one
of them – by Alan Gray – being used for three separate sections
of the psalm.

It seems to me that Andrew Millington has selected the chants
with discrimination and has married up texts and music very
well. Mind you, one would expect no less from a musician so
steeped in Anglican liturgy. Some of the chants are less interesting
than others – in general I feel this applies to those by the
earlier composers such as John Goss though the chant by Reg
Moore, to which Psalm 5 is sung isn’t terribly interesting either
– the other Moore chants engaged my attention more strongly.

It’s instructive to see how more recent composers have respected
the musical tradition of chant while injecting just a little
bit of what I might call twentieth century spice. Millington’s
own chants are good in this regard and it’s good to hear also
the work of musicians such as Philip Moore and Humphrey Clucas.
Michael Dawson may have been only eleven years old when he penned
the chant that is used for the first part of Psalm 9 but his
music justifies fully its inclusion: the chant is assured and
right in the idiom. I like the modest harmonic “crunch” at the
end of the third of his four-bar phrases. One of my own favourites
among this collection is Martin How’s gentle chant, to which
Psalm 16 is sung.

As I commented earlier, Andrew Millington selects the chants
very well. The Philip Moore chant for Psalm 4 sustains the mood
established in Millington’s own chant – for men’s voices alone
– to Psalm 3 and as both psalms are prescribed for the same
liturgy – Morning Prayer on the first day of the month – that’s
as they could well be heard during an actual service. Even better,
Millington manages well the changes between chants within individual
psalms. This is particularly the case in Psalm 18, where no
less than four chants are deployed and each complements very
well the words which they illustrate.

The performances will give pleasure, I think. The singing of
the Exeter choir is good, if not entirely flawless, and the
psalmody is clearly rooted very firmly in their musical DNA.
Millington has carefully schooled them in how to project the
psalm texts without the chants sounding mechanical. Diction
is good, though since the language of the psalms is complex
it is as well that Priory’s booklet includes all the words.
In short, we hear a very good cathedral choir in action on this
disc.

Accompanying the choir is Paul Morgan, who retired a few weeks
after this recording was made after forty-one years unbroken
service to Exeter Cathedral as Assistant Organist and Organist.
The fruits of such experience are readily apparent in this recording.
He understands instinctively that the organist’s role is generally
that of discreet accompanist but that, occasionally, something
more illustrative is required. I love, for example, the splendidly
growling low pedal notes he deploys at verse 13 of Psalm 18.
These are fully justified by the text:

‘The Lord also thundered out of heaven, and the Highest
gave his thunder: hailstones and coals of fire.’

That’s but one of a number of imaginative touches that Morgan
brings to the accompaniments, enhancing the text while not acting
as a distraction.

Priory’s presentation is up to the label’s high standards. The
recorded sound is good – Neil Collier has a lifetime’s experience
of recording choir and organs in ecclesiastical acoustics –
and the documentation is comprehensive.

Despite the merits of the original set of recordings it’s good
that Priory is revisiting the psalter. The series has been auspiciously
launched in Exeter and it is to be hoped that further volumes
will soon follow.

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